Blast from the 'Past'

Glasgow natives The Wake with "Talk About The Past" from 1984.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[The Stage, Second Avenue]

A tour of the East Village's 'Borscht belt restaurants and lunch counters' (Serious Eats)

Go 'soak up the atmosphere' of the Subway Inn (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

New La MaMa musical taking inspiration from this month's revolution in Ukraine (DNAinfo)

Check out the 1980s NYC photography of Amy Arbus (The New York Times)

Robert Plant stands outside Physical GraffiTea on St. Mark's Place (Gothamist)

EVG contributor James Maher guests on the "ReW & WhO?" show at Otto's (YouTube)

Wrapping up the Streit’s Matzo documentary (BoweryBoogie)

Do you remember this Dinosaur at the Continental? (Flaming Pablum)

Revisiting NYC's Newspaper Row' (Ephemeral Row)

It will never stop snowing in NYC this season (Gothamist)

40 years of Ray

Ray's Candy Store is entering its 40th year now on Avenue A ... on the occasion, NY1 stopped by this morning for a quick segment.

Per Ray:

"I'm here, and paying top price but I love it. I want to be here forever."

Watch the segment here. [Updated: Ugh, sorry — didn't realize that Time Warner made you sign in to view. We'll see if we can get a copy another way...]

OK, here's the segment via YouTube (thanks Shawn Chittle)



[H/T @RTSNYC]

[Updated] Stray voltage warning on Second Avenue

Con Ed is investigating here on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street, via a report by EVG reader Stephen Popkin...





Hey, you're right by B&H Dairy too. Get some soup.

And on the topic of Con Ed... As a reminder:

Con Ed officials will be present to answer any questions or hear any concerns at the CB3 Public Safety/Transportation meeting on March 11 at 6:30 p.m. Location: University Settlement at Houston Street Center, 273 Bowery

Updated noon

Stephen sends along another photo... Con Ed crews are working on the scene now...



And via Stephen, the mushroom barley soup and blintzes were quite good at B&H...

First Avenue home of Brickman & Sons and 22 apartments is for sale

OK, first of all, Brickman & Sons, the longtime hardware store here between East Third Street and East Fourth Street, isn't going anywhere.

However, the building at 53-55 First Ave. that houses the store is now for sale.

Here are the details via Massey Knakal:

The two 5 story buildings are situated on the west side of First Avenue between East 3rd and East 4th Streets. Combined, the buildings total approximately 18,240 gross square feet and contain 22 residential apartments and 1 commercial unit. Of the residential units, 9 are currently fair market, 12 are rent stabilized, and 1 is rent controlled, ranging in size between studios through 2 bedrooms.

Overall, both the rent regulated and fair market units are operating approximately 33% below market. By achieving market levels through renovations, vacancy turnovers, and deregulation of units, future ownership has the opportunity to substantially increase their top line and realize the building’s full potential.

Additionally, the single commercial space is owner occupied by H. Brickman & Sons and encompasses the ground floor of both buildings totaling approximately 3,840 rentable square feet. Current ownership is requiring a lease-back of the commercial space with an initial term of 20 years at $20,000 per month with 2% annual increases.

H.Brickman & Sons will also be responsible for 25% of the increase in real estate taxes. The company’s origin dates back to the 1930’s when it first opened at 53-55 First Avenue. Since then, Brickman & Sons has expanded with two additional locations in Manhattan illustrating it’s long-lasting success and providing prospective investors with long-term commitment to their space.

Asking price: $14 million.

[Image via Massey Knakal]

CB3/SLA committee March highlights: A new applicant for El Sombrero on Stanton Street?

[EVG file photo]

CB3 released the SLA licensing committee docket on Wednesday… the agenda includes a new proposal for El Sombrero on Stanton and Ludlow, which was previously going to become another outpost of Artichoke Pizza. That deal fell through, as BoweryBoogie first reported last month.

Now, an entity named Two Almontes Corp. is aiming to take over the inexpensive Mexican restaurant that opened here in 1984. We asked Regina Bartkoff, who has worked here since 1988, about all this. She has been out of work the last few weeks with a wrist injury. However! "I heard this rumor and called the restaurant and they told me no! Nothing is happening."

So perhaps chalk this up to some pre-mature paperwork. Anyway, The Hat remains open, of course — go while you still can!

Meanwhile, the rest of the docket is pretty quiet in the way of Big Ticket items…

Applications within Saturated Areas
• Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery (Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery Inc), 215 Ave A (b)

Not sure what is going on here… CB3 had previously OK'd a license for beer at Zaragoza back in May 2012.

• Sigmund Pretzel Shop Inc, 29 Ave B (upgrade to op)

• Paprika (Albatross Restaurant Corp), 110 St Marks Pl (op)

• Nublu (Tatu LLC), 151 Ave C (op)

• Bikinis (Eat Bikinis Inc), 56 Ave C (extend license to patio and gallery space)

New Liquor License Applications
• To be Determined, 117 2nd Ave (wb)

This was a scratch from the February agenda … A taker for the very short-lived Picnic on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street.

• To be Determined, 536 E 5th St (wb)

This is the address for the Minca Ramen Factory and Kuboya next door… not sure what space this application is for at the moment…

• Numero 28 (La Meridiana I Ltd), 176 2nd Ave (wb)

• Menkuitei (Shin Restaurant Inc), 63-69 Cooper Sq (op)

Or Menkui Tei.

• Mesa Seaview (Mesa Seaview), 41-43 E 7th St (upgrade to op)

????

• Eric Thant Corporation, 57 1st Ave (wb) (Pudgie's)

Hmm, Sushi Zayy already opened here at the former Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo.

• To be Determined, 269 E Houston St (op)

Hahahahaha. This is like the 78th time this has shown up on the agenda. The Local 269 closed here in September 2012. There have been a few potential suitors, though nothing ever came of the various proposals for the bar space. We spotted nine different for rent/sale signs on the business last summer ... The whole building remains on the market for $12 million.

• Gaia Lounge (Sams 1 Lounge Inc), 103 E 2nd St (wb)

The meeting is March 10 at 6:30 p.m. Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. 4th St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

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b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations

Prime and Beyond New York space for rent on East 10th Street

[EVG file photo]

Back on Jan. 28, 2013, Jennifer Gould Keil at the Post reported that Prime & Beyond, the steakhouse at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, is leaving the East Village to be closer to the Lincoln Tunnel and its New Jersey location.

We're not sure of the status of those plans… however, a new listing for the space turned up this week at Streeteasy… Miron, who has an office upstairs, has the listing:

Amazing and well established high-end steakhouse for rent or for sale near Union Square. Greenwich Village. Wine and beer license in place. Fully vented. Great lease terms! Private garden area for outdoor seating ready for the summer season. Over 1 million invested in renovations and brand new equipment. Key money upon request. One of the best locations in Manhattan.

Not sure if the sub-level space below Miron's office is "One of the best locations in Manhattan." But that's subjective!

There are actually two listings for the space at Miron… one for $15,500 a month… the other for $16,300 (which is the one that arrived on Streeteasy this week)…

Regardless, the space itself looks pretty nice… at least from the photos … never been down here ourselves…



Prime opened in July 2011.

Don't gouge the trees

An EVG reader writes in …

I took this photo [Wednesday] morning on East 4th St. between Avenue C and D. There are two small trees that were planted last fall in front of P.S. 15 The Roberto Clemente School on this block. This morning I noticed someone gouged both of the trees on purpose. This was not done by an idiot chaining their bike to it, because they were fine yesterday. I wish people were more aware of taking care of the trees. These are in front of a school and it would be so nice to have them grow tall ...

Godzilla and Rodan team up on East Seventh Street

Hey, something more creative than a snow penis!

EVG regular Grant Shaffer spotted this after the light snow yesterday on East Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C…

Perhaps it's some guerrilla marketing for the new "Godzilla" blockfuckingbuster coming in May… (heh) And Godzilla nerds are debating whether Rodan makes an appearance… And maybe you were one of the 10 million people who watched the trailer since its Tuesday debut…

Tonight's sunset

Via Bobby Williams

Workers removing trees from the Jacob Riis and Lillian Wald Houses

Workers are currently pruning or cutting down trees this morning at the Jacob Riis Houses and Lillian Wald Houses along Avenue D…



A worker told Dave that they are removing all the ones marked with an X. And they all seem to be marked with an X… especially here on East 10th Street between Avenue D and the FDR…



Said the worker: "Sandy messed 'em up."

3 Awful Avenue A bars: What are they now?

A few days ago we noticed that the sign went up for Ethos Meze, the new Greek restaurant opening this year at 167 Avenue A…




While the previous tenant here, Diablo Royale Este, has been closed for more than 18 months… the new sign is symbolic of sorts… an end of an era where three bars on Avenue A drew the ire of neighbors for the beer ponging, party busing, sidewalk peeing ways of its patrons...

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[September 2011]

From May 2010 to August 2012, Diablo Royale Este, which claimed it catered "to a mature audience," was popular with the party bus crowd … and, most famously, once hosted (unwittingly or not) a Boats 'N Hoes party for NYU students.

Diablo Royale Este eventually closed after some ongoing issues with the State Liquor Department.

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Then, at 200 Avenue A, there was Superdive.

Oh, the legendary Superdive, which started its reign of woorrorism with table-service kegs in June 2009… and remained open intermittently until October 2010… (Superdive threatened to return too many times… it was like trying to kill Jason Voorhees… )


[The glory days of 2009 via Meri Micara]

There was a midget dressed as a pirate working Champagne Tuesdays… Bargoers were encouraged to mix their own drinks… oh, lordy. We're just going to stop.

Today, the space is home to the ABC Animal Hospital.



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… and at 34 Avenue A, there was Aces & Eights, which arrived in March 2009 … residents quickly branded the place a beer-ponging frathole …


But, to the bar's credit, the general manager did try to make some changes, reaching out to EVG readers for input … and even making good use of the upstairs space for a cool art show…

The bar closed for good in October 2010.

The space is now home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."